I Can Be Your Hero, Baby
by Dareia
Summary: After spending half of her life on the road, Julie is back in the small town of Dillon, just like Tim after years of serving in the army. Life as always takes an unexpected twist what might not be as unexpected as most would think. I know that the summary isn't exactly fantastic, it's way more than what it says. Please, read it! Thank you :)
1. Introduction

**Hello Ladies! It's been an incredibly long time since I wrote a Tulie story but I missed our favourite couple so much, and I had this idea so I had to act up on it. I promise I won't leave this unfinished. However, I can't tell how often I'd be able to update so please, don't be angry with me. I hope you're going to enjoy this story!**

**I apologize for the mistakes I made, as you all know English isn't my first language. If there's anyone who'd be willing to help me, I'd be thankful.**

**Please, leave a feedback if you have the time. Thank you :)**

_**Small Town Traveller Around The World  
**_

**_Julie Taylor_**

The day when I left my hometown again was the day when I had to face the truth I tried to deny in the last decade. As I said goodbye in the pouring rain, turning my back to the one I held onto for so long, I broke down, tears running down on my cheeks as my heart shattered into pieces.

For a long time I believed my life would only start when I managed to get away from the suffocating football nightmare that dominated my years as a teenager. However, after spending 3 years in college, and 5 years with doing what I always dreamt about; travelling around the world, meeting new people, experiencing the life of a cosmopolitan I had to realize sometimes what we wanted and what we needed was the complete opposite.

Following your dreams at all cost can help you to achieve what you wanted through your entire life. But along that road you have to stop occasionally, look into the mirror, and ask yourself: Are you happy? Is what you wanted also what you needed? Did your dream come true made you whole? Or did you end up so caught up chasing the ideal life that you ran by it along the way because it wasn't how you imagined it?

Listen to me now when I say you must stop and ask these questions from yourself. I tell you, learning from my own mistakes that it's worth the time to stop for a moment and wonder about where you're heading, and if it's still where you want to be.

I should have asked myself as well. I should have asked if it was my dream to spend the better part of my life on ships, trains, and planes, on the road all the time, if the life I was living was as ideal as I imagined it.

I had to make my own mistakes to realize what I needed was in front of me all along; in the heart of a small football town, in a pair of broken green eyes that mesmerized me from the moment I saw them, and tied my soul to the dusty land of the almost alien world of Texas.

Take my advice, Ladies and open your eyes before it's too late.

_**The journey is over.**_


	2. Suprise

**Dear Readers! Thank you so much for the nice reviews -for the guest reviews as well, unfortunately, I can't reply to those who didn't leave a name behind- it means a lot to me :) Hope you're all gonna enjoy this!**

**Please, leave a feedback if you have the time. Thank you :)**

**I apologize for the mistakes. If any of you want to help, I'd be thankful.**

"Surprise!" I screamed with a grin on my face as Mom opened the door.

I decided I'd take a break from the constant travelling. My editor agreed that it was time for me to go on a vacation, and as my life as a traveller journalist seemed to be a non-stop holiday, I thought the best decision would be to come home, and spend some time in the dusty town of Dillon with my family.

Of course, there was another reason why I felt the need to come home. I was going through a little bit of a crisis in my personal life. My fiance, Jeremy Colton thought the best way to break up with me would be to screw another woman in our bed. His explanation for this unaccaptable behaviour was that I was never around, that he felt like he was about to marry a ghost. He knew when we got together that my life was travelling around the world. I'd never tried to hide the fact he'd rarely see me.

After university I took the big step and moved to New York. First I only got jobs as a freelance journalist but as my works got more and more attention, I ended up at Cosmopolitan first, and only 6 months later – when I realized that writing about makeup and shoes didn't satisfy me – I got an offer from a travel magazine. I couldn't have been happier. That job was everything I'd ever dreamt about. I became a real cosmopolitan. In the last few years I'd been all over the world, from the big cities to the tiniest little villages, from North Pole to South and back.

"Julie," seeing the shocked face of mother for a moment I was wondering if it was a good idea to come home. I thought she'd be happy to see me. We barely ever met, one or two times a year as I was always on the road.

"Wow, don't be this happy," I said, a little bit hurt that she seemed more surprised than happy to see me there.

"Don't be silly, sweetheart, you know I'm happy to see you… I'm just surprised," she rolled her eyes, pulling me into a big hug. For a second I felt like I was a teenager again, and Matt hurt me, and I needed my mom's support.

If I wanted to be honest, I wasn't entirely sure anymore what I wanted from my life. I thought I had everything that I needed but the fact that breaking up with my fiance in a rather nasty way didn't affect me in any shape or form made me realize that something must have gone wrong on the way. I hoped that coming home would help me to figure out what to do in the future.

"Who is that?" I heard dad's annoyed voice from inside. He must be getting ready for Friday night. He'd never been happy when someone disturbed him in preparing to the games.

"Julie," mum replied, pulling me into the house.

My parents moved away from Dillon twice since I left but they always came back. There must be something in this sometimes annoying little town what keeps pulling us back, some kind of strange, rusty magic that kept us here.

"Julie!" I saw dad rushing out from the direction of my old room – it was dad's office since I moved out – "What are you doin' here? Are ya alright?"

"Seriously, it's very touching to see how happy you're all to see me," I laughed, shaking my head, though, the truth was that I was indeed a little bit hurt that no one's reaction was pure happiness.

"Of course I'm happy to see ya, honey, we just didn't expect you to come home," dad said, pulling me into a big hug like mum did a few minutes ago.

"That's the point of surprises, they aren't expected," I mumbled, taking a look around. The house was the same as last time, the same as it was always, still small and lovable, full of life planted into it by my family.

"Where is Gracie?" I asked, hopping down to the couch. I still had to take my baggages in from the car but I wanted to take a breath. It was a damn long trip from New York to Texas.

"She's over at her friends'," mum answered, watching me suspiciously. I knew I couldn't avoid giving an explanation for too long. I had to tell them that I broke up with Jeremy. I already knew that they'd be hurt that I hadn't tell them a month ago when it had actually happened. "But I'm sure she's gonna be more than happy to see you."

I knew Gracie missed me a lot. We talked a lot over Skype, and in mails. She complained a lot that mum and dad were way too hard on her, that they barely let her go out. I understood her side as I'd been that 14 years old teenager back in the days. However, looking back at those times, I understood why our parents acted the way they had.

"I heard you didn't let her go to a party," I nodded, my mind drifting of to those times when I had problems like that. I wished a little bit that those were still my biggest issues instead of wondering about my life, or having to face my parents and tell them that I wasn't getting married.

"Of course you heard, I bet she forgot to tell you that it was a high school party," dad growled with an annoyed expression on his face. I couldn't help but smile. I felt like I jumped into a time machine, and I was back into my own life.

"How is Jeremy?" Mum asked, seeing dad getting worked up over the topic. There went nothing. It might be better to get over with this sooner rather than later.

"I'm sure he's very happy with his new girlfriend," I said, sarcasm bleeding through my words. The truth was that my pride was hurt more than anything, as a person, as a lover, I wasn't certain if I felt how I was supposed to feel.

"Excuse me?" Mum stared at me in disbelief, dad mirroring her expression, except for the additional "I'm going to kill that little bastard if he hurt my baby" face he had.

"You heard me, we broke up about a month ago. Found him with another woman in our bed," I shrugged, standing up and heading to the kitchen to get something to drink. I almost forgot how hot Texas could be.

"A month ago? When did you want to tell us about it?" I heard the outrage in mum's voice. I might have told them a little bit earlier but I had to gather my thougths about what happened.

"Now?" I asked, opening the fridge, grabbing a bottle of water. I was as thristy like I didn't have anything to drink in the last month. It might have also been because of the interrogation that awaited me.

"Watch the attitude, young lady," dad pointed at me, and now I was back in high school, and my parents could lecture me again how I messed up.

"I needed some time for myself but I told ya now," I groaned, leaning against the counter. It seemed that rebelious streak didn't want to die out from me.

"Alright, we know now… and what are ya going to do now? Is there a chance you two get back together?" Mum asked, putting a hand to dad's shoulder to sooth him a little bit. I didn't think it would ever change that our temper got the best of us often. It would always cause tension in the family but at least we would never be bored.

"No," I stated firmly. He humiliated so badly there was no way I could go back to him. I also didn't believe he wanted me back. "I plan to stay here for a few months."

"Here?" Mum asked, raising an eyebrow. "Did you lose your job as well?"

"No!" I said, taken aback even by the thought. If I didn't have my job, I'd have nothing. I already felt a little bit lost by this realization – that my job was my life – I couldn't imagine what would happen if I lost that, too. "I just thought after all the travelling it would be nice to spend some time with y'all."

"Of course, honey…" Mum nodded quizically, changing glances with dad. What was going on? I thought they'd be happy to have me here for a while.

"Is it a problem?" I crossed my arms over my chest defensively, finding it odd that instead of jumping into my neck, and hugging the living hell out of me they exchanged strange looks.

"No, of course it isn't sweetheart," mum said, trying to relax me with not much luck. "It's just that… your dad's office is in your old room, Gracie's room is too small to share…"

"Are you trying to tell me that I have nowhere to stay?" I asked shocked, my eyes widening. I travelled around the world, and dealt with worse places to stay at than a couch but I thought I'd always have a place to stay at home.

"You can have the couch until we have a better idea," mum smiled at me, not too reassuringly whether that was his intention, or not.

"Great," I growled quietly, pushing myself away from the counter. Nothing seemed to work out for me lately. Maybe I should have stayed in New York.

"Or we could set up something for her in the garage," dad added, scratching his head, making my eyes widen.

"Eric!" Mum stared at him puzzled. I couldn't help but laugh out. Lord only knew I missed my father's nonsenses a lot.

"What? She could have her own room," he answered, not getting why it was such a huge deal that he wanted me to stay in the garage.

"I'm gonna make a nice dinner for you tonight to celebrate you're home! And we're gonna figure something out for your stay as well," she smiled at me, pulling me into another hug.

This family thought food solved all the problems in the world. However, thinking about it, if everyone had food, it could have brought world peace.

"Do you want me to go to the shop?" I asked, sighing. I could make myself useful at least. Let alone after the realization that I'd have to sleep on the couch, I could use some time away from this house.

"That would be very nice, honey," she smiled at me warmly, taking a piece of paper, and a pen. "I'm going to make a note what we need. Do you want me to go with you?"

"Nah, it's alright, I can deal with it," I returned her smile, shrugging slightly. It would be nice to take a look around the town anyway. Plus, I had to admit when I came home, I didn't think that I'd end up on the couch. It sounded anything but ideal.

I was wandering around in the shop when I saw a familiar face, stalling in front of the shelves with the booze on them. It wasn't a surprising image. Some things had never changed.

"Tim?" I walked up to him, touching his shoulder lightly.

"Julie," he smiled at me in the old Riggins way. The smile was also still the same; knee shaking and heart melting. "I didn't know you were in town."

"It was supposed to be a…" I couldn't end the sentence because I was pushed out of the way by a man who attacked Tim, going against him with full force. The man screamed something about how Tim had an… intimate affair with his wife. Again, some things had never changed.

Tim hit back, defending himself. He was obviously stronger, and physically better built than the other man. I didn't think the man would stand a chance against him.

"That's enough," I screamed at them, trying to pull the man away from Tim who fell on the shelves. "If you don't go away now, I'm going to call the cops!"

"If I see you around my wife one more time, you're gonna be a dead man," he glared at Tim, pushing my hands away from his arms.

I looked at Tim as the man left, giving him a helping hand to stand up from the ground. He looked as lost as a puppy. It was amazing how much he wasn't aware of the weight of his actions, even now that we were adults.

"Come on, I'll take ya home," I sighed as I saw his eyebrow had opened up and blood ran down his left cheek. I started out from the shop, expecting him to follow me.

"I can go home, Jules, he didn't hurt me," he growled, his hair falling around his face like a protective shield.

"I'm not going to argue, Tim," I stated firmly, sitting into my car, opening the door for him. "Get in the car, now!"

"No wonder you're Coach's daughter," he smirked, making me roll my eyes. I watched him sitting into the car, leaning his head back.

"And no wonder, you're still a trouble magnet," I sighed, pulling out from the parking lot. "You'll have to tell me the direction."

"Just go to the border of the town. There's gonna be an empty looking place with an old house on it," he explained. I knew he bought his own place when he got back from the army. I was happy for that, I knew it was always one of his dreams to have his own piece of Texas.

"So what was this about?" I asked as I drove through the town, taking a note that it was true that time seemed to stop here.

"Nothing," he shrugged, avoiding my gaze.

"It wasn't nothing, Tim, that man wanted to kill you," I looked at him, questioningly. I wasn't stupid, I knew what it was about but I wanted him to tell me.

"His wife was unhappy, I made her happy," he smirked again, making me shake my head.

"You're unbelievable," I groaned, rolling my eyes. Why couldn't he just find a decent woman to be with?

"Sure I am," he sent me a boyish grin, making me laugh. "By the way, what are ya doin' here?"

"I needed a break from work," I shrugged, not wanting to talk about the whole Jeremy thing. I had a feeling I knew what he'd have to say about that.

"You? Why?" He raised an eyebrow, frowning for a moment. I wasn't all that into work for God' sake. Or maybe I was…

"I broke up with Jeremy," I mumbled, pulling into the abandoned looking land of his. The house was a little bit run down but with a little bit of work, it could actually look like a decent home.

"Good, I've never liked him. He was an ass," he smirked, getting out of the car. This was exactly what I expected to hear.

"You haven't even known him," I sighed a little bit annoyed as I followed him to the house.

"I knew enough to know he wasn't good enough for you," he said as a matter of fact as I pushed him down to one of the chairs, and started to look for the first aid kit.

"Of course," I rolled my eyes, finally finding the first aid kit. I moved in front of him so I could take a closer look at the wound. Luckily, it wasn't too deep, it only needed cleaning and a plaster.

"Damn right," he hissed quietly as I touched the aching area.

"Don't be a baby, you got way worse wounds than this," I laughed, shaking my head as I cleaned the wound, and put a plaster on it.

"You want a beer?" He asked, standing up from the chair when I finished him off.

"Dunno, I shoulda go home… to the couch," I mumbled, in a slightly grumpy way. The option of the couch didn't seem to be too inviting.

"Couch?" He raised an eyebrow as he grabbed a bottle of beer, and handed one to me as well.

"I don't have a place to stay," I sighed, taking a sip of the cold beer. I'd never really liked beer but I had to admit anything cold made me happy now that I was back in the desert.

"You could stay here," he said with a slight shrug as he drank his beer. I stared at him puzzled for a moment, not certain if he was being serious, or he was joking.

"Are ya for real?" I asked, taking a look around the place.

"Yeah, the house is big enough so you wouldn't even have to see me if you didn't want to," he shrugged, keeping his eyes on me as he took another sip from his beer.

"Okay," I said shortly, nodding to him. Now I'd only have to figure out how to tell to my parents that I was moving in with Tim Riggins.


	3. Moving in and out

**Hello Ladies! Finally, an update, not as long as I wanted it to be but I didn't want to make you wait any longer. Hope you're gonna enjoy it! Thanks for all the feedbacks, and new alerts/faves, they mean so much!**

**I'm sorry for all the mistakes! Please, leave a feedback if you have the time, thank you :)**

"Mom!" I called out as I entered the house. Thoughts of how I should tell my parents –especially to my dad- that I was moving in with no one else but Tim Riggins circled around in my head constantly.

I could only imagine the reaction I'd get. I still remembered the time when I got drunk on that party, and dad thought Tim hit on me even though, all he did was taking me home in one piece. Of course, at the time I hadn't thought it would have been a good idea to share this with my parents. Somehow I couldn't have imagined either of them being happy about their daughter getting completely wasted. So I let Tim take the fall for me.

"Where were you? Your mother worried herself to sick," dad growled as he walked into the kitchen.

"Julie!" My sister jumped on me, almost knocking me off my feet. At least someone missed me for real. "I'm so happy you're here!"

"Hey, Gracie," I laughed, hugging her back tightly. "Those pictures didn't show how much you've grown." She made a small circle around herself so she could show that she became a real woman by the age of 14. My sister was exactly like I was at her age but then luckily, we both inherited mum's beauty.

"Oh, you got home, finally," mom appeared from the bedroom as well. There was no way I'd stay here more than it was necessary. I was treated like a child again, and even though, I had a great childhood, it wasn't something that I missed. "Where were you?"

"I found a place to stay at," I said cheerfully, knowing my good mood would only last for so long. I could imagine what they were going to say when I told them where I was going to live for the next couple of weeks, or months.

"Oh?" Mom frowned at me, exchanging looks with dad. I knew she was glad that I was home and I'd barely spent time with them in the last couple of years but this house was too small, and I didn't want to put up with the 24/7 watch of my dad. "I thought you'd stay here."

"In the garage?" I raised an eyebrow, laughter hiding in my voice.

"What's your problem with the garage? Riggins lived there too for a few weeks," dad cut in, his face showing that he seriously didn't understand what my issue with the garage was. Wasn't it enough that it was the place where they parked their cars?

"Well, now he has his own land with a nice big house where I can stay at," I said, expecting all hell to break loose. Mum gasped in somewhat of a shock, and dad... His face turned scarlet red, the vein at his neck was pumping the blood so fast and hard that I thought he'd soon get a heartattack.

"That is not gonna happen, young lady! You are not moving in with Tim Riggins," he pointed at me, his voice shaking with anger.

"I am moving in with Tim, dad, end of story, you can yell all what you want," I glared at him, feeling my own face turning red as my adrenalin ran high. Again, I was back 10 years, being a teenager, fighting with my parents about a boy. Not that I considered Tim as a love interest in any shape or form.

"I don't understand, you were never friends," mom stared at me dumbfounded, still in disbelief.

"We went to the same school, dad was his coach..." I shrugged, opting not to mention that they might not have been completely aware of the relationship what I had with Tim. It didn't seem to be the right time to enlighten them now.

"I say it again, you aren't moving in with him, Julie Taylor!" Dad raised his voice, pacing up and down like a lion in a cage.

"And I say it again that I am," I growled annoyed. What was he thinking? He was my father, and I loved him but it would be time for him to realize that I wasn't his baby girl anymore. I had my own will, and did whatever I wanted to do with whoever I wanted to do.

"Well... I hear he's changed a lot," mom mumbled, leaning against the counter. She was trying to calm dad down but I knew it wouldn't get us anywhere. He wouldn't make peace with this for a while. I opted not to mention that Tim didn't seem to change a lot, judging by our first encounter today.

"Don't sleep with him!" He said, making me blush from head to toe.

"Dad!" I stared at him in disbelief. Gracie started to laugh so hard she'd choke. I guess she enjoyed she wasn't the one harassed today.

"I mean it. Remember what I told you as a kid," he started, giving me an all serious look. I had no idea what he was referring to but I had a feeling it was going to be something incredibly embarassing. "Don't ever touch anything when you don't know where it's been before."

"Dad!" I screamed, not wanting to believe he said that. Mum's jaw landed on the flood, and Gracie started to laugh hysterically.

"Oh God, this is amazing!" Laughter shook Gracie as she sat down to the table, not being able to stand on her feet anymore.

"Go to your room, Gracie," mom ordered her with a "no crap is accepted" voice.

"But this is just getting better and better," she whined, not wanting to leave the amazing scene with dad and me having the main roles.

"Go," mom told her firmly, earning an eye roll from my sister before she left.

"I think I should go as well," I took a deep breath, trying to calm down.

"Don't you stay for dinner, honey?" Mom asked disappointed. However, I guess she knew as well it would be for the best for all of us if I left. I'd just arrived and I'd already had a fight with dad. There wasn't going to be a time when our temper didn't get the best of us.

"It's better if I go now, I'll drop by tomorrow, don't worry," I smiled at her reassuringly before I hugged her.

"Don't sleep with him," dad told me one more time as I headed toward the door.

"I love you, too dad," I rolled my eyes as I called back to him. Well, I guess it could have been worse... In some ways for sure.

I drove back to Tim, feeling relieved by the knowledge that I wouldn't have a fight him, that if I didn't want to, I wouldn't have to talk. He was actually the best roomie anyone could ask for.

"Hey Little Taylor," Tim crossed the yard as I stopped the car. "I know that look. Did Coach not like the idea of his baby moving in with me?"

"How did you figure? Are you a mind reader?" I rolled my eyes, still frustrated. All I wanted to do was get my stuff inside, have a nice wine, and relax without anyone yelling completely incoherent things, or trying to tell me what I could, or couldn't do.

"I don't think he's ever liked the idea of you and me," he mirrored my shrug as he opened the trunk of my car.

"Don't take it too personally. He likes you, just not your raputaion. Plus, I don't think he liked any man in my life," I smiled at him, petting him on the shoulder.

"Because you have a terrible taste in men," he smirked, bumping his shoulder to mine. "Serecane, the Swedy, then this Jeremy dude... I knew he was a player from the first second."

"You didn't even know him, Tim," I laughed, shaking my head. It was true though, Tim had never liked Jeremy whether he'd known him, or not.

"Your letters were enough," he replied, grabbing a box full of books. "Do you plan to move in for the rest of your life?" He asked, staring at all the books, and suitcases in the car.

"These are all necessary," I said, biting my bottom lip as I moved my eyes to all the stuff. I might have gone a little bit overboard when I'd packed.

"Of course," he laughed, shaking his head, his eyes landing on one of the boxes. "Are those my letters?"

"Yep, I take them with me everywhere," I answered, grabbing the box, kicking towards him so he'd move towards the house. It was true, I had the letters with me all the time. They brought me peace. We'd been writing letters to each other in the last years. I'd sent postcards to Tim from everywhere I'd gone, and he'd sent letters to me from the war.

We'd always been close to each other. It'd been the case that no one knew about it. He was my best friend, someone who I could have always gone to cry, and he could have done the same. Not the crying part of course. We'd become friends after Jason'd been paralyzed. It had taken a toll on the whole town but it hit Tim the worst. I didn't even know how it had happened but it had, and we'd never lost contact through these years. I'd always known what had been happening with him, and he'd always known what was going on with me.

"Very touching, Taylor," he smirked again, heading towards the house.

"Shut up, Tim" I laughed, following him inside.

"Are those my postcards on the wall?" I raised an eyebrow, a smirk appearing on my face as well as I saw my postcards above the couch in the living room.

"Might be," he shrugged, letting his hair falling around his face.

"Very touching, Riggins," I laughed, petting a kiss to his cheek.

It took about half an hour for us to take all of my stuff inside but we'd been finally done, and could have a nice bottle of wine for me, and beer for Tim. We laid out to the yard, staring at that amazing night sky of Texas.

"Have you ever seen a sky like this anywhere else?" Tim asked quietly, his eyes glued to the stars above us.

"No," I replied, taking a deep breath, leaning my head to his shoulder. "I never thought I'd say this but I missed this."

"Texas forever, Little Taylor," he whispered, placing a small kiss to my forehead. He made me wonder if he was right, if it was true once you let this alien land invade your heart, you could never be happy anywhere else. He might have been right because I hadn't felt this relaxed in the last years.


End file.
